Let's try to keep the Scottsdale project news, pictures, etc, in this thread. I'm probably missing a lot of stuff but here's an initial list of the major projects. I will revise it as I have information.

PayPal ready to hire for new Scottsdale facility
The Business Journal of Phoenix - 10:07 AM MST Tuesday
by Adam Kress

PayPal, the popular online payment services company owned by eBay, is expanding in Scottsdale and plans to hire hundreds of new employees.

It will open a new technology development center in Scottsdale and is now accepting résumés from experienced applicants, who can apply for positions at www.paypal.com/jobs. The PayPal technology center has openings for technical professionals with expertise in product development, operations and infrastructure design, engineering and support.

"Scottsdale and the surrounding area is home to a large and skilled work force, many of whom can find great opportunities at PayPal's new technology center," said PayPal vice president of site operations and infrastructure Jim McGuire in a company statement. "We look forward to working with this large base of talented professionals, and supporting the growth of the local community."

PayPal, founded in 1998, enables any individual or business with an e-mail address to send and receive online payments securely and easily using a bank account, credit card or stored balance. The company has more than 105 million accounts and is available to users in 55 markets around the world.

"EBay and PayPal are innovative, global technology companies that will increase the region's visibility as a destination for next-generation companies," said Barry Broome, president and chief executive of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. "Kudos to Mayor Manross and the Scottsdale City Council for creating an environment that attracts companies of this caliber."

Based in San Jose, Calif., the company has offices in Dublin, Ireland and near Omaha, Neb. Parent company eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is also based in San Jose.

On another note, I really like the Optima Camelview Village design...I drive by it everyday and its looking good. When everything at the Scottsdale/Camelback is completed, its gonna look goood

And something we should all go to once in awhile...a Saturday at the spa....

Scottsdale is tops in country for spas
By Shanna Hogan, Tribune
July 11, 2006
The smell of lavenderscented aromatherapy oil fills the lobby of the Spa at Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale as soothing melodic music plays from speakers overhead.

Inside, men and women lie in individual rooms wrapped in mud or with hot black stones lining their backbones.

It’s a familiar scene in Scottsdale.

While the city has long been known for its luxury resorts and high-end golf courses, an abundance of resort spas has given Scottsdale the new title of spa capital.

Scottsdale has the highest concentration of resort spas in the U.S., according to Luxury Spa Finder magazine, a 20-year-old publication that maintains a database of spas across the country.

A look at the Yellow Pages shows there are at least 77 spas in Scottsdale, both in and separate from resorts. The magazine lists at least 20 Scottsdale resort spas.

Consumers hungry for pampering have created a demand for more spa facilities throughout the country. The trend has been embraced feverishly in Scottsdale, with more resorts adding on lavish spas to attract a wider customer base.

“You can’t really have a resort in Scottsdale without having a spa nowadays,” said Kristin Roberts of Scottsdale’s Hotel Valley Ho resort. “Scottsdale is now a spa destination.”

The Valley Ho reopened in December, with a new look and the new VH Spa. Adding the spa was an important component of the renovation process to keep up with the competition, she said.

But resort spas aren’t just appealing to tourists. Complementary use of the pool, sauna and fitness center after a spa treatment has also attracted local residents.

“If I am just getting a regular facial I just go to the salon,” said Scottsdale resident Liz Wilson. ”If I am getting some sort of special treatment I go to the resort spas. It’s more of an all-day experience as opposed to just one hour.”

Wilson gets a regular monthly facial and massage. As a special treat she’ll splurge on a deluxe pedicure about three times a year.

“It’s a way to reward myself,” she said. “It’s much healthier than going out drinking or eating a huge meal.”

Today’s fast-paced lifestyle is driving more people like Wilson to look for ways to unwind, said Susie Ellis, the magazine’s president.

“The increase in stress is causing people to look for places where they can get destressed,” she said. “Spas are the best antidote for stress because that’s what they’re all about — reducing stress.”

The trend in Scottsdale was most likely fueled by the area’s plethora of golf courses, because resorts wanted to give golfers’ wives something to do while their husbands were on the green, experts said.

But the spas have now become the driving force for many out-of-state tourists.

“It’s an extremely popular aspect of the resort in and of itself,” said Trish Nugent of the Sanctuary Spa on Camelback Mountain.

Valerie Poulos of The Phoenician resort said increased competition has led to more luxury facilities and unique treatments. The Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician offers a variety of services, including tarot card readings and 80-minute caviar facials.

Scottsdale day spas, which are not attached to resorts, are also creating new services for their clients.

“Eleven years ago we were the only real day spa in this whole city,” said Irene Kelly, owner of Spa du Soleil in Scottsdale. “All the hotels used to send us their guests when we first opened because they didn’t have spas. Over the years that has changed.”

The Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park opened its Red Door Spa in May. It was the first in the West Valley.

“We noticed as the resorts were popping up in Scottsdale and they were offering these great spas, that that’s what people were really starting to travel for,” said Lance Burton of the Wigwam. “It was just time for us to be able to have one as well.”

Burton predicted the trend will continue as more people discover the pleasures of spas.

“All over Arizona they’re popping up,” he said. “But Scottsdale’s always going to be at the top, and that’s where people are going to look.”

The spa industry

• Scottsdale has the highest concentration of resort spas in the United States.

• Spas are a $40 billion global industry.

• The spa industry is the fourth-largest leisure industry in the United States, generating more revenue than ski resorts, amusement/theme parks or box office receipts.

• Between 1994 and 2004, the number of U.S. spas has quadrupled, and 136 million visits to spas are now made each year. The number of spa locations is growing at an average annual rate of 20 percent over the last 8 years.

• The number of hotel/resort spas has more than tripled in five years, rising 290 percent and representing the industry’s fastest-growing segment.

• Over 30 percent of spa visitors are men — up from 24 percent in 2002. Men represent the fastest growing demographic in the spa industry.

Ground broken for second phase of Kierland Commons Plaza Lofts
The Business Journal of Phoenix
Tuesday, July 11th 2006

Woodbine Southwest Corp., developer of the Kierland Commons retail/residential development along the Phoenix/Scottsdale border, Tuesday broke ground on the Phase II tower of the Plaza Lofts at Kierland Commons.

The Phase II tower, slated for completion in the fall of 2007, will comprise six residential levels above a three-story parking garage. The building will be on the north side of Kierland Commons.

For Tuesday's ceremonies, officials ditched the usual photo-op shovels in favor of a "lifestyle presentation" with human and canine actors role-playing activities such as valet parking a sports car, attending a cocktail party and taking a leisurely afternoon stroll.

The first phase of the Plaza Lofts had 30 lofts, and in the second phase that number grows to 54, ranging in size from 1,100 to 2,800 square feet. Five penthouse suites on the ninth floor will range from 3,200 to 3,900 square feet and will feature custom buildouts.

According to Woodbine Southwest officials, sales began in March and the project is already more than 50 percent sold.

Nelsen Architects is the architect on the project, and Sundt Construction Inc. is the general contractor. Signature Properties is handling the role of residential broker.

SCOTTSDALE - DMB Associates is preparing to ask the Scottsdale City Council to allow some of the city's tallest structures in north Scottsdale at its One Scottsdale project.

But a citizens group vows to fight the proposal, contending that it would double the height to 120 feet, or about 10 stories.

Bob Vairo, Coalition of Pinnacle Peak president, said taller buildings northeast of Scottsdale Road and Loop 101 would harm the area's skyline and further snarl traffic.

"If we value the views and the mountains and what makes Scottsdale so special, then do we let it morph into something else, a highly urbanized area?" Vairo said.

Scottsdale-based DMB plans to build 1.8 million square feet of offices, retail and residential units at One Scottsdale, starting next year.

Height limits are 60 feet on the southern end of the project and 45 feet on the northern end.

DMB attorney Karrin Taylor said the company plans to ask the Scottsdale City Council to increase the project's height limit, but she would not say how tall it might go. The overall size or square footage of the project would not change.

DMB's architectural design team wants to vary the building height to make it more visually appealing, she said.

"We've taken a step back and asked ourselves, 'How can we create a better place aesthetically and bring greater value to the area?' " Taylor said. "It can be done and executed in a more artful way."

But the Coalition of Pinnacle Peak wants the city to draw a line and limit building heights in north Scottsdale.

Scottsdale's tallest buildings are 143 feet high, but all are downtown.

Mayor Mary Manross said she would withhold judgment until DMB submits its request for an amended plan.

Nearby, Phoenix is expected to allow buildings up to 190 feet, or 17 stories, for Palisene, Westcor's competing mixed-use development northwest of Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road

That's the message Councilwoman Betty Drake is sending after a recent review of a redesigned three-story building at 4020 N. Scottsdale Road.

The Red Mountain Retail Group wants to turn it into a combination of condos and a retail furniture gallery.

It is a powerful enough message that Mayor Mary Manross is cutting the City Council's planned seven-week summer hiatus short by nearly three weeks. The council last met July 11 and was not previously scheduled to meet again until Aug. 28.

The council now will meet next Tuesday to reconsider what is known as the 4020 Building, northwest of First Avenue and Scottsdale Road.

"It's a nice design, but is it appropriate in the middle of Old Town?" Manross said Monday.

The mayor said she called the special meeting at Drake's request.

She said the meeting couldn't wait because the council only has 20 days to review any decision of the Development Review Board.

The council will consider whether to initiate a review of the July 20 decision by the board, which approved the project 6-1.

At that board meeting, public discussion favoring the project spoke about the desire of having a mix of residential and retail in downtown Scottsdale.

Those opposed generally criticized the architectural style and building materials as being too modern and out of touch with the more rustic, Western and Santa Fe adobe architecture of Old Town Scottsdale.

Scottsdale's condominium market is showing signs of slowing just as some of downtown's projects are close to moving in their first residents.

The Hotel Valley Ho is to complete its first condos early this month, and the residential tower should be completed by November, said Alyssa Wick Thomas, a sales agent for Russ Lyon Realty.

With the market cooling, Thomas said it is fortunate the Valley Ho is on the leading edge of downtown's condo development wave.

"It's certainly not as strong as it was two years ago when people were signing up without even looking at anything," she said. "Now they're analyzing everything and crunching the numbers."

About half of the Valley Ho's 37 condos have been sold. Among the remaining condos are 1,800-square-foot penthouses, priced at $1.5 million.

Some other projects in the first wave of what is expected to be 2,000 new downtown condos will welcome their first tenants during the next few months.

Optima Camelview's first residents will move in by September. Spokeswoman Jennifer Ziegler said about 535 of 700 condos have been sold. Steel framing was to start last month on the second phase.

The first occupants of the 13-story Scottsdale Waterfront Residences will move in by January. Meanwhile, the steel framing of the second residential tower on this project is nearly complete, with move-ins scheduled for the second quarter of 2007.

Developer Alan Farris said Main Street Plaza will turn on the lights and air-conditioning for its first residents in August. Construction of a second phase will start later this year, he said.

Soft buyers flee

Scottsdale's market started picking up steam when the condo cranes went up, and it appeared buyers were feverish about the new urban lifestyle that builders were touting downtown.

It's clear now that some of those folks were testing the waters. Once developers had their real estate reports in hand and wanted signed contracts, some of the so-called buyers took their refundable deposits and pulled out.

"We had buyers who went to all of the different developments and put their money down," said Thomas, the Russ Lyon Realty agent.

Now, as the doors open on a new style of luxury living in Scottsdale, it will be interesting to see how many condo deals close and whether prices slip or developers offer incentives to fill up their lofty and costly perches.

Resale market cools

While builders add finishing touches to new condos, Scottsdale's resale condo market has seen sales dip 18 percent from May to June. The median sales price last month was $264,750, up 1.2 percent from May but down 7 percent from February, according to the Arizona Real Estate Center at Arizona State University.

Valley-wide sales of existing condos were off 30 percent from May to June, and the price dipped 0.2 percent.

Local buyers, squeezed out of the single-family home market, had shifted to condos and condo conversions. But many of those doors closed to them when prices shot past $200,000 for dolled-up apartments, some of them older than the 20-something buyers.

When we first heard there was going to be a 15 story condo project in Chandler, yes, Chandler Arizona, many of us laughed and laughed.

No matter how purty the stock-art photos of young couples doing wine and cheese, it's tough to sell a $1,000,000 2-bedroom condo in such a lame area. Well, we're now finding out, it's not just tough, it's impossible.

Wonder how they'll tear these condo building frames down, in Arizona, in Miami, in San Diego, in Denver, in ...?

Work has virtually stopped at the 10-story luxury hotel under construction south of Chandler Fashion Center, and the city has warned the project architect that some permits issued in January have yet to be paid for.

When asked Friday whether there were problems with the project, Oaks, the architect, said he could not comment. Builders have finished eight floors, but the ninth and 10th floors for condominiums are considered a different phase of the project.

Plans call for 243 rooms, including 10 executive suites. The top two floors will house 27 condominiums that range in price from $500,000 to $2 million. The hotel has a projected opening date of November 2007. The 10-acre site will include a 15-story condominium tower southwest of the hotel and a four-story parking garage with more than 600 spaces. Construction on that tower is expected to begin in late summer.

I hope projects currently under construction in Phoenix and Tempe don't end up the same...mainly Monroe 44, Summit, Sheraton, and W hotel...if that even ever takes off.

PGA Tour event set at Grayhawk
Fry's Electronics Open to limit ticket sales
Peter Corbett
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 24, 2006 12:00 AM
SCOTTSDALE - A PGA Tour golf tournament scheduled at Scottsdale's Grayhawk Golf Club in October 2007 will limit attendance to a fraction of the FBR Open's crowds.

The Fry's Electronics Open on Grayhawk's Raptor Course will likely cap ticket sales at about 10,000 to 15,000 per day, said Del Cochran, Grayhawk Golf Club captain. The FBR averaged 111,315 fans each tournament day.

But he and the host Thunderbirds civic group say they are excited about staging a second PGA event next year.

"I'm overjoyed," Cochran said. "We love the October timeline that sets up the market for the season, and the weather is perfect."

The PGA Tour and the Thunderbirds announced Wednesday that the Fry's Electronics Open is one of seven tournaments in a new fall series.

The tournament, with a $5 million purse and full field of 132 players, will be Oct. 15-21 at Grayhawk, northeast of Hayden Road and Thompson Peak Parkway.

It is not expected to attract golf's top tour players because it falls a month after the Tour Championship, when many players take time off.

But Greg Hoyt, tournament chairman, said he called some of the local players to invite them to compete.

"With such a large contingent of tour professionals already living here in the Valley, we should have a strong field vying for the championship," said Hoyt, who was the 2004 FBR Open chairman.

The FBR Open, which will be played at the TPC Scottsdale Jan. 29-Feb. 4, attracted 536,777 for this year's event.

Hey, I'm still relatively new to the Phx area so I won't be embarrassed by asking this. Okay, so I have never -- ever -- been to DT Scottsdale (really, I'm serious). That's a happening place, yes? If so, what street/area should I go to this weekend? I have a friend visiting and I'd like to take him somewhere with clubs, etc. (As an aside, I'm quite familiar with Mill in Tempe; it's my default place for nightlife because I'm not sure where else to go [and, I like it]).